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Beauty has a price: the global political economy of beauty among youth in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

BEAUTY HAS A PRICE: THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BEAUTY
AMONG YOUTH IN GUADALAJARA, JALISCO, MEXICO
by
Angela B. McCracken
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS)
August 2009
Copyright 2009 Angela B. McCracken

This dissertation argues that there is a global political economy of beauty that shapes ideals and practices of beauty, and which in turn is shaped by the personal production of beauty. The politics of this global economy of beauty favor historically gendered hierarchies, but also evidence some openness to transformation, particularly among youth. The production of beauty in the fiesta de quince años in Guadalajara, Mexico, serves as a site to explore the mutual construction of personal beauty and the global political economy through an extended case study. The quince is a birthday party for fifteen-year-old girls that involves months of preparation, a religious service, a meal, and dancing. It is an important site for social reproduction and change of gendered norms of beauty. Applying Spike Peterson’s reproductive, productive, and virtual framing of the global political economy and feminist critiques of disciplinary beautification, the study finds that the quince is intimately linked to the global political economy of beauty through products, social reproduction, and exchange of cultural signs. Beauty production in the quince is shaped by and shapes global markets in beauty products and services and the globalization of cultural signs. Additionally, subcultural youth who reject the mainstream beauty standards of the fiesta are equally engaged in global economies of beauty. The study finds that varied standards and practices of personal beautification in Mexico are changing due to the intersection of major shifts in the global political economy of beauty with adolescent desires to be unique and original. These changing norms and practices of beautification in Mexico mostly reinforce historical gender inequalities, but also present some opportunities for unsettling traditional gender norms

BEAUTY HAS A PRICE: THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BEAUTY
AMONG YOUTH IN GUADALAJARA, JALISCO, MEXICO
by
Angela B. McCracken
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS)
August 2009
Copyright 2009 Angela B. McCracken